Spooler trough



April 18, 1961 J. ca. FISHER 2,980,481

SPOOLER TROUGH Filed May 15, 1957 4 SheetsSheet l James Glenn Fisher FIG.2

ATTYJZ J. G. FISHER SPOOLER TROUGH April 18, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 15, 1957 FIG.|2

FIG.8

INVENTOR. James Glenn Fisher April 18, 1961 J. G. FISHER 2,930,481

SPOOLER TROUCH Filed May 15, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 TTyS:

United States SPOOLER TROUGH James Glenn Fisher, Hartwell, Ga., assignor to-Fisher Manufacturing Company, Inc., Hartwell, Ga., a corporation of Georgia Filed May 15, 1957, Ser. No. 659,402

3 Claims. (Cl. 312-250) provide an improved spooler trough construction of such character that the presently unused space adjacent to the spooler machine may be utilized and a saving of valuable floor space bet-ween the machines realized.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bobbin or yarn trough and supporting means. therefor for use in connection with spoolers having air ducts above the floor and winders whereby there is not only obtained a.

saving of floor space but the storage capacity of the trough is greater and rehandling is minimized and a more efiicient production rate is obtained.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved bobbin or yarn trough in association with a supporting stand adapted to position over or straddle the air duct adjacent the machine and support the trough in sucha manner that 't may be readily moved in or out with respect to the machine for loading and for easy cleaning, not only of the trough but of the spooler.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and novel spooler trough construction having a floating bottom or a follower bottom whereby a relatively constant level is maintained in the trough to keep the bobbins at a convenient height for the operator, thus reducing the amount of effort required to be put forth by the operator in withdrawing the bobbins and enabling the operator to work faster and with less fatigue.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a yarn or bobbin trough for spoolers and winders wherein a vertically movable spring supported platform is provided for elevating the bobbins in the trough as the number thereof is reduced and wherein the said movably supported platform is perforated or slotted to avoid the collection of lint thereon so that the cleaning of the trough can be effected more readily.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved yarn or bobbin trough for spoolers and winders wherein there is provided a supporting structure upon which the trough is slidably mounted so that it can be easily separated from the adjacent machine for cleaning or servicing of the latter and wherein the opening or mouth of the trough is designed so that large bobbins can be discharged into the trough more easily from the dumping units employed for bringing the bobbins to the trough Another object of the invention is to provide improved warp doff and through truck boxes which are constructed so as to reduce rehandling of the bobbins, both full and empty, whereby to reduce or lighten the labor of operaatent O l Patented Apr. 18, 1961 tors and to also protect the quality of the yarn on the filled bobbins by eliminating damaging dumping operations.

Another object of the invention is to provide boxes designed for use at spooler machines which do not have air ducts located above the machine floor and which boxes are roller supported and adapted to be used both as transporting means for bobbins and as spooler troughs when placed in proper position adjacent to the machine.

Still another object of the invention is to provide boxes designed to be used as above set forth, which have floating bottoms for elevating the bobbins as the same are removed to be deposited in permanent troughs or to be placed on the spooler machine, when the box is functioning as a spooler trough, whereby the work of the operator will be lightened, as above set forth.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be come apparent as the description of the same proceeds and the invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detail description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of the specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to a strict conformity with the showing of the drawings but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a portion of a spooler machine and of an air duct showing also in perspective in operative position a spooler trough constructed in accordance with the present invention;

, Fig. 2 is a front view of the trough structure removed from its'association with the spooler machine, with a portion broken away;

Fig. 3 is a view in top plan of the structure shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the spooler trough structure and the air duct and showing the outline of the adjacent machine;

Fig. 5 is' a sectional view taken approximately on the line 55 of Fig. 4' illustrating on an enlarged scale a runner attached to the bottom of the receptacle and the supporting rail with the retaining U-bolt associated with the runner and rail;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken approximately on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4 showing the anti-friction member and supporting yoke therefor carried by a runner;

Fig. 7 illustrates in side elevation, with parts broken away and in section, a full bobbin box and an empty bobbin box such as are used in the spinning room, together with a wheeled dolly upon which the same are supported; I

Fig. 8 is a view in elevation of the structures shown in Fig. 7 looking toward the raised end of the box employed for carrying full bobbins;

Fig. 9 is a view in front elevation of another roller supported box for transporting filled bobbins wherein the supporting rollers are attached directly to the bottom of the box, a portion of the box structure being broken away and in section to show the removable bobbin elevator structure therein;

Fig. 10 is a view in end elevation of the structure of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a view in front elevation of the bobbin box shown in Fig. 9 and illustrating therewith a removable empty bobbin carrier or container;

Fig. 12 is a view in end elevation of the structure shown in Fig. ll looking toward the empty bobbin container;

Fig. 13 is a detail view illustrating one manner of 3 coupling the empty bobbin container to the wheel supported bobbin box.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral in Fig. 1 designates a portion of a conventional spooler machine in associationwith which the present invention is designed to be used. In this figure there are shown several bobbin Spindles designated 12, below which the rear part of the hereinafter described trough structures are disposed when in use. The numeral 14 designates a portion of the front of the machine which extends outwardly beyond a front face or breast 16.

The trough structure in one embodiment of the present invention is generally designated 13. This trough structure is of substantial length to position in front of the spooler machine. lengthwise thereof and a number of such spooler troughs are disposed in end to end relation, but for the purpose of clarity only one of the troughs will be describedin detail, it being understood that all of the other troughs are duplicates thereof.

The embodiment of the improved spooler trough structure illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, is designed primarily for use in association with those spoolers which have air ducts extending lengthwise thereof below the for wardly extending part of the machine or, in other words,

'below the portion 14 and in front of the part 1%, hereinbefore referred toas the machine breast, and this air suitable length, but a preferred length would be approximately 15 feet. The sizes of the troughs would, of course, vary to suit requirements.

The trough or receptacle which preferably is of metal construction although, if desired, any other material may be made use of, comprises the long bottom 22, the vertical front wall 23, end walls 24 and the back wall 25, thus forming an open top receptacle for the reception of the yarn bobbins. The end walls have adjacent to the back of the receptacle the upstanding panels or wings 26 and the back wall is of greater height than the front wall 23 and joins an upwardly and forwardly inclined short top Wall 27. Thus the rear part of the trough or receptacle is formed in the nature of an upstanding forwardly opening hood, the forwardly and upwardly inclined top 27 of which is angled suitably to fit beneath the forwardly and upwardly inclined part 14 of the machine. The forward edges of the upstanding end wing portions 26 are substantially vertical, as indicated at 26', and join the horizontal top edges 24 of the end walls from which they extend and of which they form a part. Thus the trough or receptacle has a substantial depth from front to rear and a wide top opening leading thereinto to facilitate the discharge of the bobbins therethrough from the conveyor boxes employed for transporting the bobbins to the troughs.

The receptacle here illustrated is shown with a central division wall 28 and positioned in the receptacle on each side of the wall is a removable floating bottom elevator unit which is generally designated E for supporting a supply of bobbins in the receptacle and this unit functions to keep the supply at a convenient level, as will be herein more particularly set forth.

These elevator units in the two sections of the receptacle are alike or of duplicate construction and accordingly the description will be directed to one only thereof.

As shown, the elevator unit E embodies a bottom plate 29 which is of proper dimensions to rest upon the fixed bottom 22 of the receptacle in the section in which the unit is placed and overlying this bottom plate is a platform 30 which is supported in the manner about to be described, to have up and down movement, the upward movement of the platform being effected by supporting springs interposed between the plate 29* and the platform 30.

The springs for supporting the platform 30' are here shown as two in number and each is designated 31. These springs are preferably located adjacent to the ends of the platform and approximately in the longitudinal center thereof.

In order to stabilize the platform and maintain it horizontal at all times, and parallel with the underlying plate 2-9, there are provided at the front side and rear side of the unit E the two crossed levers 32 which extend lengthwise of the unit and are pivotally joined together at their crossing points as indicated at 33 which points are approximately midway between the ends of the levers. Each of the levers 32 of each lazy-tong has a fixed pivot connection with one part of the elevator unit at one end thereof, one fixed pivot connection being designated 34 and being carried by a bracket member 35 supported by and secured to the plate 29 at one end, while the other fixed pivot connection designated 36 is carried by a bracket 37 secured to the underside of the platform at the'end thereof overlying the bracket 35. These brackets and pivots are, of course, duplicated at the oppositeside of the elevator structure on the corresponding end.

At the opposite end of the elevator structure the other ends of the levers 32 of the lazy-tong units at the front and back of the elevator have sliding pivotal connections with the platform and base plate. The lever 32 which has its pivoted end 36 attached to the platform 30 extends downwardly toward the opposite end of the elevator unit and has its lower end pivotally and slidably connected as shown at 38 in a slot 39 of an elongate bracket carried by and secured upon the top of the plate 29. The other lever 32 which has its end pivotally attached at 34 to the plate 29 carries a sliding pivot 41 which engages in the elongate slot 42 formed in the long bracket 43 which is secured to the underside of the platform 30. These brackets and pivots 38 to 43, inclusive, are, of course, repeated at the back of the unit for the levers of the lazy-tong on that side. Thus it will be understood that there are two lazy-tongs interposed between the base plate 29' and the platform 30 of each elevator unit and these function as will be readily apparent to prevent tilting or rocking of the platform under the load of bobbins which may be placed thereon.

The platforms 30 forming the floating bottom of the elevator unit are designed to permit lint or other material to pass through into the bottom of the receptacle andby reason of the novel construction of the elevator units, the receptacle can be thus readily cleaned and also the lint will not accumulate 'on the filled bobbins as might be the case if it could not pass through to the bottom of the receptacle.

These platforms 30 are preferably made up of transverse'end bars 30a which are connected together by the longitudinal angle bars 301) which, as shown in Fig. 4, are disposed to have the outer side of the angle directed upwardly and the sloping sides of the angle bars are arranged with their bottom edges spaced apart so as to provide between the bottom edges of the sloping sides of the angle bars the openings or slots 300. At each side of the platform a half of an angle bar may be used to form a single inclined strip or bar 30d.

To facilitate the attachment of the brackets 35 and 43 to the underside of the platform 30, a flat plate 30c is welded to the bottom edges of the angle bars 3%, as illustrated, so as to provide the necessary flat surface for the attachment of the brackets.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that when it is found necessary or desirable to clean out the receptacle, this may be easily accomplished by depressing the platform of the elevator unit or in other words, by collapsing the elevator unit and then lifting the entire unit but through the top opening of the receptacle. Lint which has sifted through to the bottom of the receptacle may then be easily removed in any suitable manner.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the two pairs of extensible or lazy-tong legs beneath the platform 30 function to maintain the platform level in the rising and lowering movements thereof which occur under the influence of the weight of the filled bobbins which are introduced into the receptacle. In other words, when the receptacle is filled with the bobbins, the weight of the same will force the platform 30 downwardly against the resistance of the springs and as the bobbins are used and the combined weight of the same decreases, the springs will elevate the platform and the bobbins remaining so that the level of the bobbins in the receptacle will always be kept at a height convenient for the operator or attendant of the machine to remove them without difficulty or effort.

The receptacle 21 is supported upon legs or leg units which are adapted to position over or straddle the air duct 20 and there are here illustrated two of these leg units each of which is generally designated 44. However, it is to be understood that more of these leg units may be provided if the situation warrants.

The leg units support the bobbin receptacle 21 in the manner about to be described so that the receptacle can be readily moved outwardly for convenient filling and cleaning and then moved back into working position.

Each of the leg units 44 preferably comprises the two upwardly converging struts 45 which may comprise pipe sections or sections of angle iron material and the lower ends of these two struts are attached to a foot plate 46 while the upper ends are suitably joinedby welding or any other desired means. Spaced forwardly of the struts 4S and in a vertical plane passing midway between the struts is a single front upright strut 47, secured to a foot plate 47'. This strut 47 preferably inclines upwardly and forwardly and continues into or joins at its upper end the rounded knee portion 48 by which it is connected to the rearwardly extending horizontal rail 49. This rail at its rear end is joined to the joined upper ends of the struts 45. In order to strengthen the leg structure at the front thereof an angle brace 49' is secured on the inner side of the leg strut 47 and t0 the underside of .the rail 49, across the angle formed by the knee portion 48. Thus the struts with the rail and the foot plates 46 and 47 form a single leg unit which straddles the air duct and supports the bobbin receptacle above the air duct, as shown.

The undersideof the receptacle 21 has secured to the bottom 22 thereof the transversely extending runners 50. Each of these runners is in the form of an inverted channel bar of metal or other suitable material. The central portion or web 51 of the channel bar is positioned flat againstthe underside of the receptacle bottom and the flanges 52 extend downwardly on opposite sides of the rail 49 on which the web portion 51 rests.

Encircling the lower part of each rail 49 is the semicircular portion of a conventional U-bolt 53, the legs of which extend upwardly on opposite sides of the rail 49 and pass through the web 51 of the channel bar and the bottom of the receptacle to receive securing nuts 54. The U-bolt for each rail 49 is disposed adjacent to the rear or back of the receptacle as shown, and functions in cooperation with the forwardly located straight bolt 53' to secure the receptacle to the channel bar slide or runner 50. Also the U-bolt functions to limit the forward movement of the receptacle and the channel runner by contact with a stop 55 which may be in the form of a stud bolt or a lug welded directly to the underside of the rail 49, which stop is near the forward end of the rail 49.

In order to make the sliding movement of the receptacle on the leg rails 49 smoother and to prevent undue wear of certain of the parts, there is provided on the knee portion 48 an upwardly and forwardly extending roller supporting bracket 48a carrying the roller 48b, the top of which is in the proper horizontal plane to be engaged by the inner side of the channel bar. as' the latter is slid forwardly on the supporting rail 49. Also to facilitate movement of the receptacle and the channel bar runners there is suspended from the edges of the side portions 52 of the channel runner the downwardly converging bearing roller supporting bracket elements 49a which support between them and upon the underside of the rail 49, the roller 4912. It will be seen from this construction that when the receptacle is drawn forwardly and the weight of the receptacle is imposed on the forward ends of the channel runners, the rear ends of the channel runners will be elevated or the weight will tend to cause them to rise and the rollers 49b will engage the undersides of the adjacent rails 49 and thus take from the U-bolts the wear whichwould otherwise be caused by their sliding engagement with the rails 49.

The foot plates 46 and 47' may be secured to the floor in any suitable manner but preferably they are provided with studs 46 welded to the under surfaces thereof for extension through suitable openings in the floor, as indicated, and these may be threaded to receive conventional holding nuts.

In mills employing machinery of the type with which the present invention is used, the floors frequently become uneven due to the great weight of the machinery and by providing the foot plates with studs in the manner shown, suitable shimming may be used to properly level the receptacle supporting legs.

The mounting of the receptacle upon the horizontal rail portions of the supporting leg units so that the receptacle can be slid thereon provides for the convenient separation of the receptacle from the machine to permit the cleaning or servicing of the latter. The attachment of the receptacle to the supportinglegs by the U-bolts 53 and fasteners 53', facilitates the removal of the troughs from the stands or leg units for making repairs to the machine should the necessity arise and the sloping top of the hood .portion at the rear of the machine permits this part to fit back under the inclined front portion of the machine and act as a dust shield.

The invention in other embodiments is illustrated in Figs. 7 to 13.

In Figs. 7 to 8 there is shown a box unit which is used in the spinning room to hold the full bobbins doifed from the spinning frames, which box is generally designated 100. Boxes of this type are carried upon wheeled dollies or trucks such as that designated 101 and also on this truck is a smaller box 102 which is fixed to the truck and employed for carrying empty bobbins.

The base or dolly is of standard construction and is equipped at one end with a roll-off bar or roller 103 which holds the large box at an angle to make the loading of the same by the dolfer easier and in turn allows the box to be rolled off onto a carrying truck or onto a storage area.

The box 100 embodies in addition to a front wall 104, end walls 105 and a bottom 106, the rear wall 107 of which is of less height than the wall 104 and joins the upwardly and forwardly inclined extension 108.

Within the box 100 is positioned an elevator unit which is generally designated E and which is of the same construction as the unit hereinbefore described. The bottom plate of this elevator unit rests directly upon the bottom 106 of the box and the platform which is perforated or slotted like the platform previously described, is supported upon the bottom plate by springs which constantly urge it upwardly. Since this unit E is of the same construction as hereinbefore described, detailed description of the parts or elements is not believed to be necessary.

The box 100 with the elevating unit therein may be employed in the conventional manner to carry full bobbins and by the provision of the floating bottom or elevating platform, the operator is able to work from in Fig. ,1, Without fatigue.

a 'constant level in transferring the bobbins from the box to the spooler trough, such as the trough illustrated This employment of the elevating structure in the box eliminates the necessity of removing the box and dumping the bobbins from the same into the spooler trough.

Also by constructing the box 100 with the inclined rear Wall face in the manner shown, it will be apparent that Where the air ducts associated with the spooler machine are not above or on the floor, as shown in Fig. 1, the box 100 may be slid off of the base 101 and used as the spooler trough, thus making it possible to transport the filled bobbins from the spinning frames and use the box as or in place of the spooler trough, thereby avoiding the necessity of transferring the bobbins from one receptacle to another.

The smaller box 102, designed for carrying empty bobbins, may likewise be equipped with an elevator unit of the same construction as that hereinbefore described so that the empty bobbins as they are taken out will be kept at a constant level in the box as the plat-form supporting springs raise the platform.

Figs; 9 to 13 illustrate a box permanently mounted .on wheels for transporting filled bobbins from the spinning room to the spooler machine. This box is generally designated 109 and, like the box 100, embodies the front wall 110, end walls 111, and a bottom 112 to which are fixed a number of swivel casters 113. Two of these casters are disposed on the longitudinal center of the box bottom, one at each end of the bottom, and the other two casters are disposed in a line transversely of the bottom midway the ends thereof and each adjacent to one side of the box. The back wall of the box 109 is designated 114 and has a forwardly sloping upper or top portion 115. This box 109 which is permanently mounted upon the supporting casters, is designed to be employed in the same manner as the box 100, that is, for transporting filled bobbins from the spinning room to the spooler room, and is also designed to be used as a spooler trough in connection with those machines Where the air duct is not above the floor, as shown in Fig. l.

The caster mounted box 109 is also equipped with an elevator unit E which is of exactly the same construction as that described in connection with the first referred to embodiment of the invention.

This box 109 may also be constructed to have an empty bobbin box attached thereto, which box is here generally designated 116, and is equipped with attaching trough, the box may be pushed to position alongside the spooler or Winder and by reason of the incorporation therein of the elevating unit, will have the same advantages in use as the receptacle forming a part of the leg-supported structure 13. When so used as a trough,

the caster-supported box will be run into position with the end casters in a suitable trackway which will steady the box While it is in use. In the use of the box or a number of the boxes, the same are pushed in one direction along the spooler machine from one end and removed from the spooler at the opposite end.

The use of the boxes described with the elevator units therein eliminates the labor of dumping and this permits the use of larger boxes and lessens the danger of physical injury to workers and also protects the quality of the yarn by removing the possibility of damaging the same as a result of the dumping operation.

Also because of the larger storage of bobbins possible at the machine, much of the present storage area is made available for other equipment. Also the larger storage of bobbins which is possible at the machine, cuts down on the number of containers which the mill requires for use.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that by the provision of the inclined upper portion 108 of the wall 107 of the box and by the provision of the inclined portion of the wall 1140f the box 109, either of these boxes can be placed in position against the face of a spooler machine where, as previously stated, there is no above floor air duct, and the inclined portions of the walls will conform to the inclined upper part of the machine breast in substantially the same manner as the inclined top Wall 27 of the back wall 25 of the recepstantially conform to and lit against the lower front part of a textile winding machine, the said supporting means comprising at least two leg units each embodying front and rear upstanding struts and a horizontal rail therebetween and extending across the bottom wall of the receptacle, a channel iron runner secured to and across the said bottom wall of each horizontal rail with the channel directed downwardly and receiving the rail therein, each channel being slidable on the underlying rail, a U-member encircling the underside of each rail and having the side portions extending upwardly into the overlying channel and through the same and secured to the receptacle bottom wall, said U-members limiting the sliding movement of the receptacle on the rails, a rotary antifriction member supported by each leg unit forwardly of the rail thereof and at the top of the adjacent strut at an elevation to have the adjacent channel iron runner ride thereon when the receptacle is drawn outwardly from the textile winding machine lying therebehind,'and antifriction means carried by each channel iron runner adjacent to the receptacle back wall for engagement against and to ride along the underside of the adjacent rail.

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein said channel iron runners extend rearwardly beyond said back wall and the antifriction means carried thereby is located rearwardly of said back wall.

3. A yarn and bobbin trough structure for textile Winding machines comprising an elognate receptacle having an open top, supporting leg units beneath the receptacle and each embodying a horizontal top rail disposed transversely of the bottom of the receptacle, runner means disposed between the receptacle bottom and each rail for sliding movement with the receptacle on the rail, and a coupling between each rail and the overlying runner means and receptacle bottom, said coupling being a U-member encircling the rail and having the legs thereof attached to the receptacle bottom, said coupling retaining the receptacle for limited rectilinear movement on the rail and also coupling the runner means to the bottom of the receptacle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,170,580 Waldemarson Feb.'8, 1916 1,760,761 March May 27, 1930 1,943,939 Hoffstetter Jan. 16, 1934 2,116,311 Hefty May 3,1938 2,307,305 Saunders Jan. 5,-1943 2,737,351 Odell Mar. 6, 1956 2,798,640 Coddington July 9, 1957 2,798,641 Coddington July 9. 1957 

